JUDGE OMBIJA’S SECOND VETTING SUFFERS SETBACK.

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High court Judge, Justice Nicholas Ombija who is the second vetting has been halted by the court at Milimani law court on Thursday..
BY SAM ALFAN.
High court halted fresh vetting of Judge Nicholas Ombija Justice Mumbi Ngugi issued the orders against the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board (JMVB) from interrogating the Judge regarding complaints received by the tribunal on June 11, 2013.
Lawyer Rodgers Sagana told the court that the Judge was aggrieved by a notice sent to him on September 18 giving him 10 days to respond to the allegations made against him to facilitate fresh vetting.
The deadline to submit his reply lapses on Monday 28 .The tribunal, chaired by veteran lawyer Sharad Rao, had made a determination on Justice Ombija’s suitability on September 12, 2012 and cleared him on December 21, 2012 after several complainants failed to appear.
He now says that to entertain the complainants was discriminatory and a violation of his constitutional rights.
The board has ordered for a new panel to be constituted to grill Justice Ombija after Rao and Roselyne Odede-both lawyers- disqualified themselves.
“There are no chances that the vetting panel will be legally constituted or that Justice Ombija will be heard by an impartial body as provided for under Article 50 (1) of the Constitution,” the petition says.
Justice Ombija says the illegal procedure adopted by the tribunal to allow fresh complaints was deliberate and threatened to violate his constitutional rights. Once the body had determinate his suitability, it had no power to vet him afresh, he argues.
The judge directed that petition be heard on September 30 after the tribunal has been served with the court documents.

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